Love me non-tender

Recycling headlines is usually a no-no, but that one Ben came up with was too good. Anyway, midnight tomorrow is the deadline for clubs to offer contracts to their players with fewer than six years of service time, better known as non-tender day. Matt at Fack Youk looked at the four players the Yankees might consider cutting loose, headlined by Chien-Ming Wang. I’m really on the fence about Chad Gaudin; he’s a very nice guy to have around for that swingman role, but a potential $3M salary ($4.2M in Yankee dollars because of the luxury tax) isn’t exactly cost effective.

Here’s MLBTR’s list of non-tender candidates, and there’s actually a few decent players out there. Here’s last year’s list of actual non-tenders for comparison. See anyone worth bringing in? I’m prepared to start a “Dioner Navarro for Backup Catcher” campaign if he gets cut loose.

If he’s signed to a major league contract, he’d get whatever dollar amount the two sides agree to on the contract.

You only go to arb if you’re tendered a contract offer after your signed contract expires and you’re not eligible for free agency.

If Navarro’s non-tendered, he’s a free agent, free to negotiate with anyone. No arb, at least not this year.

AndrewYF

Ah, okay. Nevermind then.

DP

Jeez. Did Dioner kill someone in your family?

Ed

Navarro can at least a few home runs?

Bo

Cervelli was a nice story but Navarro is better. And shouldnt Cervelli get a full yr in Triple A and be catching insurance anyway?

theyankeewarrior

Let’s say the Yankees get Sheets at 8M + incentives. That, along with Damon AND Matsui coming back would put the Yankees around 213M for the 2010 payroll. I’m not saying this is what should or will happen, but if you look at these salaries, it give you a better feel for what they have the room to accomplish.
I’m figuring they want payroll to be as close to 200M as possible, so maybe one of Damon/Matsui is toast. Or maybe a guy like Gaudin gets non-tendered. Feel free to insert Nick Johnson or Mike Cameron also (possibly for less $$)

Sign Hazmat and let Johnny Rocket go back to the Sox–throw him a nice party tho, he made a hell of an impact…

Steve H

John Maine a non-tender candidate? Really?

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

Not any more, the Mets said they’ll offer him a contract.

Steve H

I don’t see why they wouldn’t. But then again, it’s the Mets.

Bo

The Mets need the pitching.

http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

Did you know Dionner Navarro was an all star in 2008?!?!?!

Evil Empire

Of course. Jorge Posada was hurt and Navarro used to be in the Yankee system. Everyone was like OMG THEY’RE SO STUPID FOR LETTING HIM GO!!!

Steve H

Yup. Even though he was part of the RJ trade, which at the time was a great trade, even if it didn’t work out quite as planned. I know it was the NL and all, but look at RJ’s 2004 in Arizona. Unbelievable season. He should have won the Cy Young but didn’t due to his 16-14 record.

I was just mimicking Kay’s incredulous rambling about Navarro this past season. Literally every time Navarro came up, Kay would make a comment about Navarro in ’08.

Steve H

But has Navarro caught 4 no-hittaz!!!?!?!?!?

jsbrendog

would gaudin be willing to get non tendered and sign a contract for like 2 mil for a chance to win another ws?

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

Probably not. Would you?

king of fruitless hypotheticals

Yes. Twice on Sunday.

of course, i wouldn’t make it out of spring training, so I’m probably not the right guy to ask…

I hope to make $2,000,000 late next year (for my LIFETIME…)…so if I just got a phone call verifying my ring size for my WS ring, yes, I’d take $2M from the Y’s instead of testing the open market.

http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

I hope so. He and Aceves both being able to go multiple innings out of the ‘pen is rather valuable.

Steve H

Yeah. And if Eiland really helped him with his struggles against LHP, he’d be a great guy to keep around. He has strikeout stuff, and if he can just get lefty’s out at a decent rate, he carries a ton of value. Even more importantly, if Hughes and Joba do go into the season as 4 and 5, having both Ace and Gaudin in the pen is key.

He might prefer to join up with a team where he has a better crack at the rotation. I would at least, were I in that position.

Bo

Why?

Hes already got a ring and lets be serious. players have to be selfish and earn as much as they can. Hes not some grizzled vet looking for a ring here.

The dif between 3 mil and 2 mil is pretty big.

A.D.

Wouldn’t mind some Kelly Johnson or Garrit Atkins on the bench, but presumably they could go for starting roles elsewhere

Steve H

The Astros give Lyon 3/$15, and yet there are several potential non-tender guys who could easily outperform Lyon next year. Unreal. Accardo is an intriguing name to me, more BP depth is always good, and when healthy, he’s pretty good.

I agree also. Some other intriguing bullpen names: Santiago Casilla (big arm, little results so far), Brian Tallet. I’d say Jenks, but is he really going to get non-tendered? And even if he did, he’d get a chance to close somewhere else, right?

Scott Olsen could be signed for minor league depth since the Yankees traded Ian Kennedy.

+1

Would he take a minor league deal, though? I doubt it.

Thomas

I’d suspect Garko and probably Navarro can both go to teams where they can get more playing time.

Steve H

I agree, though I think most of them will get better offers elsewhere. They are the type of guys who end up being midseason pickups, they’ll go somewhere crappy and start, then get traded to a contender to be backup at the deadline, similar to Hinske and Hairston.

Evil Empire

This makes sense.

That seems to be the case a lot. Guys will start on shitty teams, and obviously have a contract without a NTC. Cashman deals for them at a time where they are unable to refuse.

Being on the Yankee bench can kind of suck for a veteran, since playing time is sparse. But that ring on your finger at the end of the year sure does look good.

Matt

What about Jack Cust? Hes a decent OBP Guy and He’s got some nice Pop as an occasional DH type?

Bo

They are looking for versatile guys who can play the field.

if they go the strict DH route they will go Matsui or Vlad.

Steve H

Well Cust is a hell of a lot more versatile than those two. They absolutely cannot under any circumstances play the field which Cust can. Also, Cust will be much cheaper than those two, which could allow money to be spent elsewhere. I know I’d rather see Cust+Sheets than Vlad or Matsui on their own. Not a direct correlation, but Matsui or Vlad depending on cost decreases the chance of Sheets. There are a ton of DH’s on the market, let’s not overpay for one of them.

DP

Or Delgado. Or Thome.

Another Bo feature: he knows what the Yankees are going to do. Not what they could/should/might do, but what they WILL do. Bo is short for Brian, you see.

Cust is intriguing, but he’s had a major slid since his 2007 breakout. His OBP and pop are trending down. That being said he’ll be 31 on opening day, so it’s not an old age thing, and in YSIII with this lineup he would probably have a lot more success.

http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

If Cust were signed, he’d be the full time DH. He’s probably low on their list and he should be. I’d take Matsui, Damon, Johnson, Thome, or Delgado before Cust.

Marge: (incredulous) Homer, are you still eating that sandwich?
Homer: Just two more feet, and I can fit it in the fridge!

Steve

Both Garko and Conor Jackson could make nice fits, as both have some potential and both have been very productive against LHP over their careers. They both also can play 1B and some OF, which would give Girardi a little lineup flexibility, for instance if he wants to sit Granderson against a LHP, either one could fill in nicely in a corner OF slot, with Melky or Gardner covering center, or if Joe wanted to give Teixeira a day off at 1B, particularly if the Yankees are really thinking about dealing Swisher (which doesn’t really make sense to me as the roster is currently constructed – who would be the backup 1B?). Anyway, I doubt that the Diamondbacks will non-tender Jackson, as he’s a talented younger guy whose lack of production last year is due to a freak illness (Valley Fever I believe). Regardless, below are Garko and Jackson’s career numbers against LHP:

Also, I hope that the Yankees hang onto Gaudin – we could really use him as a 5th starter, if need be, or a nice long man out of the bullpen. I also hope that if the Yankees non-tender Wang, which seems almost certain, that they at least consider trying to bring him back on the cheap. His problems trying to pitch through injuries last season shouldn’t overshadow the 3+ years of very solid work he did for the team. I understand his health is a concern, but he’s worth a cheap gamble in my opinion.

http://bronxbaseballdaily.com Matt ACTY/BBD

Connor Jackson would be perfect, but I’ve heard (I think from Mike A?) that the D-Backs are going to keep him on.

A.D.

I believe he’s over the random disease he had and the DBacks are going to keep him

John – YF

I wholeheartedly agree with you on Conor Jackson. Great call. He doesn’t hit for power the way you’d want your corners to, but he makes great contact and gets on base at a very good rate, especially against lefties. Playing him in LF on days they face lefties and shift Melky to CF OR even platoon Conor and Melky since Melky seems to hit righties better anyway. I think this would be a nice fit.